Hello, It is not the dues of joining NASG that are a problem, at least not in my view. The dues are as low as they can possibly be if the organization wishes to fund various projects, such as the publication of a magazine and sponsor along with a regional unit the annual conventions. It is neither the dues nor the cost of the convention that frustrate a person's best-laid plans; it is the cost of travel and lodging. I live about 300 miles from St. Louis, and that is not an excessive distance, even if gas prices go back to where they were.
The issue is lodging which can be costly. And no one wants to lower the cost by having the convention held in a cheap motel. I hear similar complaints from the dutiful modelers who are members of a various railroad historical society. An HO friend and I talked about making a one-day attendance at the Milwaukee Road convention this year in Terre Haute, but the cost of a one-day attendance was still 100 Dollars, a bit pricey. And even that would probably have required two-nights at a motel in said location. Our leadership is doing the best it can but has no control over hotel rates an certainly none over the cost of petrol at the pump or the cost of public transportation. Some of us may just have to save up for the occasions when the conventions are closer to us and attend then. I recall the North Glenn site near Denver. My son and I got a round trip ticket from South Bend to Denver on American Airlines for $200.00 per person. That is not likely to happen again. Tom -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] on behalf of Scale S Only Sent: Thu 12/25/2008 10:58 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Name Change, yeah a great idea - phooey! Hi all -- I have to give it to the old heads amongst us. They have seen it all, probably more than once. In another 20 years we can dig it up again, if there are enough of us model railroad types still in existance... Leave the dog lie where he is... Happy New Year! Bill Winans Name Change, yeah a great idea - phooey! and he notes - Kent Singer tried this back in the 80s and a plethora of 'scalers' have tried it since. My suggestion is go ahead and try it and maybe, just maybe, the few hundred scale enthusiasts will support the organization. But to what end? A four page Dispatch? That's about all your dues (which would have to escalate more than the high point for oil prices) would afford. The original goal of NASG was to unite S Gaugers not divide them. Claud Wade (one of the founders) had Flyer, so did Bernie Thomas, Gene Fletcher, Tom Coughlan and Frank Titman (to name a few). I can list countless modelers who used Flyer as a path to Hi-Rail and then scale (or a mixture of both). Don Riley was a 'wizard' at this). And we all know good modelers who use a mix of both. The organization as it is serves as a stepping stone to bring toy train operators into the realm of scale modeling. Take that away and they will have no goals to achieve. So go ahead - change the name if you want but when you do, please count me out! Raleigh in chilly Maine ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
